'Man in sex video most likely Anwar'
KUALA LUMPUR: The sex video allegedly implicating Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is genuine and the man is most likely him, said both the prosecution and defence counsel in the Datuk T case.
In the statement of facts, it cited an experts' report from Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, United States, which verified that the video was genuine and the man was "99.99% Anwar".
The report also said there had been no tampering or any act of super-imposing on the video, which originated from a DVR camcorder confiscated from businessman Datuk Shazryl Eskay Abdullah.
The Datuk T trio - Shazryl Eskay, former Perkasa treasurer-general Datuk Shuaib Lazim and former Malacca chief minister Tan Sri Abdul Rahim Thamby Chik - had earlier pleaded guilty to publicly screening the sex video at Carcosa Seri Negara on March 21.
The court interpreter had read out a section of the report stating that the "man looked like Anwar".
When asked by the court if the three accused agreed with the facts of the case, all of them agreed.
However, Shazryl Eskay said the US report did not say that the man "look like Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim" but that "it was Anwar Ibrahim".
In his submissions, Abdul Rahim's lawyer Datuk Seri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah also cited the report.
Speaking to reporters later, Muhammad Shafee said the report was a video forensic analysis conducted by professors Hany Farid and Lorenzo Torresani of Dartmouth College.
"About 99.99% of the similarities showed that Mr X (man in the video) is Anwar Ibrahim," he said, adding that the experts had also conducted a facial recognition analysis.
The report had stated that its findings were based on a "video of a surveillance camera taken in a room" received from CyberSecurity Malaysia on May 6.
In the statement of facts, it was also revealed that Shuaib, who had surrendered himself to the police on May 25, had given a statement to authorities, saying that the recording of the sex video was taken from an apartment in Ampang here.
It was also stated that the police had gotten CCTV recordings from the apartment showing Anwar with Shazryl Eskay at its lobby on Feb 21.
The sex video was also played in court.
US experts confirm man in sex clip resembles Anwar
KUALA LUMPUR: US experts have confirmed that the video clip screened by the DatukT trio was authentic and had not been tampered with or superimposed, the magistrate's court was told yesterday.
The court also heard that the man in the video, who was having sex with a woman, resembled Parti Keadilan Rakyat de facto adviser Datuk SeriAnwar Ibrahim.
These were among the facts of the case read out in court after the Datuk T trio pleaded guilty to charges of publicly displaying an obscene video clip on March 21.
Businessman Datuk Shazryl Eskay Abdullah and former Perkasa treasurer-general Datuk Shuaib Lazim were fined RM3,000 (S$1,222) and RM1,500 respectively, while former Malacca chief minister Tan Sri Abdul Rahim Thamby Chik, who was charged with abetting them, was fined RM1,000.
They had committed the offence at Bilik Seri Makmur, Carcosa Seri Negara between 10am and noon.
Magistrate Aizatul Akmar Maharani, who meted out the fines, said he had taken into consideration that they were first-time offenders and had pleaded guilty at the very first opportunity.
Representing the three accused were counsel Zamani Ibrahim, Suhaimi Salleh and Datuk Muhammad Shafee Abdullah respectively.
According to the facts of the case, Computer Science Professor Hany Farid and Professor Lorenzo Torresani of Dartmouth College, New Hampshire, had conducted facial recognition of the man in the video and found it to resemble Anwar.
It was also read out that the recording was done in a room of an apartment in Ampang.
The police had obtained closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage and found that Anwar and Shazryl were at the lobby of the apartment on Feb 21.
It was also revealed that at the end of February, Shazryl met Shuaib in Taman Sri Ukay, Ampang to discuss about a pen-drive containing recordings of sexual acts between a man, believed to be Anwar, with a Chinese woman.
After the discussion, they had agreed to meet Rahim in relation to the content of the pen-drive as it was sensitive and involved national interest.
After the facts were read out, deputy public prosecutor Datuk Kamaludin Md Said applied for the video to be shown in court.
The video recording was played on two big screens, one facing the magistrate and the other the public gallery, for about 10 minutes.
After the screening ended, Shafee mitigated for a light sentence for the three.
He said while the scenes in the video were obscene, their intention was not to corrupt or deprave public morals.
"The motive was an honourable one, to expose a depraved and corrupt leader." He also pointed out an authority in the United States had identified the man in the video was 99.99 per cent A n wa r.
"This means that Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had lodged a false report. I, therefore, submit he should be here and not them." Shafee said the three had given clear statements to the police on why they had shown the video clip.
He said that Shazryl had said in his police statement that each time Anwar committed a mistake, he would get away with it due to lack of evidence.
He also said that Rahim was married with four grown-up children and was a respectable member of society who had been the chief minister of Malacca for 12 years.
Counsel Suhaimi, who mitigated for Shuaib, also submitted to court that his client was trying to do good for society. He added Shuaib was 72 years old and was suffering from diabetes and heart ailments.
Shafee then applied for the three accused to be allowed to pay their fines on Monday.
"Their supporters had insisted on paying the fines for them and are collecting the money," he said.
At press time, the three paid their fines.
Speaking to reporters outside the court, Shafee said Datuk T's supporters had collected some RM22,000 for the fines. About 100 supporters had gathered at the court with banners.
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